The 1996 movie `Michael Collins` staring Liam Neeson.

Running head : MICHAEL COLLINS

Michael Collins : The Motion Picture

John Q . Student

Wright State University

Michael Collins : The Motion Picture

The motion picture Michael Collins provides a mini-biography of Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins from the time of the weeklong Easter Uprising from April 24 to April 30 , 1916 until Collins ' death on August 22 , 1922 . The movie provides detailed information about Collins from relative obscurity at the Easter Uprising to become Minister of Finance in the Irish Republic and Director of Intelligence for the Irish Republican Army (IRA

p During the Easter Uprising , Collins had learned well that attempts at conventional warfare by the loosely organized , volunteer army would provide for nothing but failure against the professional British Army and the Black and Tans (essentially thugs and guns for hire used by the British to fight in Ireland using techniques of random violence and terror . After spending two years in prison for his participation in the Uprising , he returned to Dublin determined to continue the fight against the occupation by British troops and to fight for an Irish republic

Collins reorganized the IRA so that it did not make the mistakes that had been made during the Easter Uprising . He refused to attack large targets such as the Government Post Office that had been attacked and briefly held during the uprising . He viewed as having little importance because they were difficult to defend once they had been captured . It was difficult to provide supplies or reinforcements to these besieged sites and they really had little military value . Instead Collins created groups of "flying columns " consisting of three or four men who seemed to appear out of nowhere , quickly attack their small targets , and quickly disappear . This urban guerrilla warfare targeted specific targets or individuals and effectively achieved results . He emphasized the need to have as much information about the targets as possible "to know what they had for breakfast " as he is quoted in the motion picture . With this information the IRA was able to plan more carefully and execute their missions with few losses . Since the time of Michael Collins , rebel forces , revolutionaries and terrorists throughout the world have used similar urban fighting techniques

Collins ' tactics worked sufficiently well that the British Government took notice not only of the IRA , but Collins in particular . A large reward was put on his head . Winston Churchill organized a special squad consisting of the best of the British security forces . Their mission was to find Collins and put an end to his career with the IRA . This squad as well as other British soldiers , faced this difficult task with a major handicap : they did not know what Collins looked like . Instead of hiding somewhere in the country , he lived in Dublin and traveled freely throughout the city . Since of the British would have expected him to appear in public , they ignored him when he rode bicycles , walked , or used public transit under the very eyes of the British , the British backed...